Into The Stillness – Day 189 of The Pollyanna Plan

For a while now, I’ve been trying to get the hang of meditation without much success. I’ve tried meditating at different times of the day, in different locations around the house, using different mantras, but a silent mind has always evaded me.

I began to get annoyed and frustrated with my inability to quiet the chattering voice inside my head, which totally defeated the point, so I gave myself a break from the whole thing.

Then, a few days ago, my Mum told me about a breathing technique she had read about in a Louise Hay book. You count 1 for your in breath, then 2 for your out breath, 3 for your in breath and so on, until you reach 10, when you go back to the beginning and start again from 1.

It sounds so simple, but it’s oh so easy to let your mind wander and end up merrily counting your way past 20 without noticing…well, it is my case. I gave it a go yesterday and found it very relaxing, although any time my mind went blank for a few seconds, I’d start thinking, “I wonder if this is it?” Or, “I hope I’m doing this right.” Arrrggghhh!!

So, this afternoon, I tried the technique again as I lay on my bed for a nap. The first time round, I counted up to 19 before I realised what I’d done. But, instead of getting irritated with myself, I calmly started from the beginning again counting breaths up to 10 and repeating, until suddenly my mind went very still. I’ve honestly never experienced the feeling before. I think it’s called peace. 🙂

Day 189, Reason 189: Today I am so very grateful for my first experience of inner peace and stillness.

AND….

Today I started my Giving Challenge. Yippeee! I’m so excited!! Inspired by the 29 Day Giving Challenge, I am embarking on a 31 Day Giving Challenge for the month of August – 2 bonus gifts! Woohoo! 🙂

(I tried to sign up for the 29 Day Giving Challenge last week, but still haven’t received approval for my application and the emails I sent failed to deliver, so I hope all is well with them and their wonderful website.)

My challenge for this month is to give 31 gifts in 31 days and I shall be adding a quick update at the end of my blog posts each day, to let you know how I’m getting on. So, without further ado…

Day 1, Gift 1: Today I paid for someone to help my Mum with jobs around the house, as she has a very bad back.

176 days to go of The Pollyanna Plan

176 reasons to feel glad/happy/joyful to find

And…

… WE DID IT! We raised £365 for Save the Children in just 178 days – Truly amazing – And now our total stands at £377.99!!!

Let’s see how much MORE we can raise together in 365 days.

Even a small donation goes a long , long way:

Just £0.31 buys 8 sachets of Oral Dehydration Salt for a child suffering from dehydration.

If you would like to sponsor me and The Pollyanna Plan, please click on the tab below. You can donate using your chosen currency and ALL donations go directly to Save the Children.

13 thoughts on “Into The Stillness – Day 189 of The Pollyanna Plan”

Ya, meditation is called a “practice” for a reason 🙂 Don’t beat yourself up if you can’t focus. Even the masters have trouble with this. I read once where you can think of your mind as a child on a path. When they stray, you just gently lead them back on the path and continue.
Good job! and thanks for sharing!

Thank you very much for the tips! I love the idea of thinking of my mind as a child on a path – it will remind me to be patient and kind with myself. Still got a loooong way to go, but as you say, practice is the key and at least today I’ve had a glimpse of what I’m aiming for. 🙂

I hear what you are saying with meditation. My back pain – now combined with Lyme is making that ‘stillness of mind’ difficult. I;ll try Louise Hay shortly and see how it goes , So far I’ve been awake 24 hours again and my body needs the rest.
I’m really awed by what you’ve achieved. Great work.
Ciao, Susan

Meditation is a tough nut to crack. Even letting the mid wander aimlessly can be relaxing though. I prefer to use visualisation, seeing the tension wash out of my body piece by piece from my ties upwards. It takes immense concentration to get from feet to head without butterfly thoughts creeping in though.

Yaay, I’m so glad you discovered this! Meditation could be a huge help to you in a lot of ways. As a very experienced meditator, I can offer you a couple of tips.

1. Don’t worry about your mind going blank, it just isn’t a requirement. All you’re really doing with meditation is getting your brain to go into alpha state, which is a calmer, slower brainwave. It doesn’t matter whether you carry on thinking or not, the point is just to relax and feel more peaceful – kind of like tricking your body into thinking it’s asleep while your mind stays awake. I still think while I meditate, and often it’s a lot more useful, since I’m in a healthier state of mind. I get a lot of good answers to life’s questions during meditation.

2. Try rolling your eyes upward gently while you meditate. Many people find this hugely helpful in reaching alpha state more quickly, since it disconnects the brain’s orientation system.

3. You might want to try a binaural beat CD to help you meditate as well, like Hemi-Sync. It assists in bringing about specific brainwave states just by listening with headphones. I use it every day myself while I meditate, and it’s just nice relaxing music, in any case.

4. Keep at it at a consistent time each day, if even for only a few minutes. It took me about two weeks of trying to hit my first meditative state, and I remember it well too! That feeling of peace really can be so blissful. I just couldn’t live without it at this point – it’s my biggest coping skill of all.

Louise Hay is a great source – for so many things. I had never come across this technique – but anything that controls and slows the breathing will take the strength of your mind to a different plateaux.

I found it took a while to get the busy thoughts to empty in preparation for mediation. It comes the more you try.